A POLICE officer resigned from the force after he was caught using policing systems to check out his ex-partner’s new boyfriend.
Former DC Matthew Adam, who joined Thames Valley Police in June 2020 on the Detective Entry fast-track scheme, was caught between March and November 2023 using the Force Crime and Intelligence System without a policing purpose.
The former officer, who was based in Witney, was caught carrying out checks on six occasions on a male his ex-partner was now dating.
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Adam claimed he was concerned about his ex-partner, stating he had ‘heard from someone else’ that her new partner had previous convictions.
A misconduct hearing found that Adam’s behaviour amounted to gross misconduct and he would have been dismissed if he had not already resigned.
The meeting took place in May this year and was chaired by chief constable Jason Hogg.
Once he had made the initial checks, he confided in his detective sergeant about his alleged concerns for his ex-partner.
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The DS advised Adam that his ex-partner should report the matter to the police and that he ‘should not carry out checks’ on the system.
In November 2023, Adam approached a PSCO and asked him to carry out checks on the male but the PSCO was ‘suspicious of this request’ and reported him.
It was then discovered Adam had also made checks on his ex-partner's new boyfriends’ parents as well as on his own new partner and her address.
Adam submitted his resignation letter on January 18 this year.
He later emailed a former officer on March 27 ‘admitting that his actions were unacceptable’ and ‘apologised for his conduct’.
He was later served papers about the meeting on May 3 but emailed the hearing on May 14 to state he was not attending.
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Concluding his findings, chief constable Hogg wrote: “Having considered all the documentation provided and the information provided during the hearing I came to the conclusion that, on the balance of probabilities, former DC Adam had breached the standards of professional behaviour.
“I came to the view that the appropriate disciplinary action was that the former officer would have been dismissed had he still been a serving member of Thames Valley Police.
“As a consequence of this former DC Adam’s name will be included on the barred list.”
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